EPO demo planned for May 11
Staff members at the European Patent Office (EPO) will hold another demonstration next week, a month after nearly 3,000 workers went on strike.
According to the Staff Union of the European Patent Office, the next demo will be held on May 11.
The protest, at the EPO’s Munich branch, will start at Kurt Haertel passage, next to the EPO, at 12.15pm (local time) and end at the French consulate.
Last month, more than 2,600 staff went on strike in what an EPO source claimed was the highest number of strikers the office has seen.
According to the source, 2,078 employees were on strike for the full day, while 579 people went on a half-day strike. The total number of strikers throughout the day stood at 2,657 across the EPO’s four sites.
Staff have been angered after the EPO’s Central Staff Committee (CSC) said there has been no progress on four of its demands.
The CSC has called for an immediate suspension of disciplinary measures put in place against three staff representatives earlier this year, a “truly independent review” of their cases by a body that is trusted by managers and staff, a revocation of recent changes to the EPO’s service regulations, and an initiation of open and fair negotiations.
